Man wins $1.25M in Tubby Smith lawsuit
Daily News Wire Services
A former Oklahoma State assistant basketball coach who sued Minnesota coach Tubby Smith over an aborted hiring was awarded nearly $1.25 million by a jury yesterday in Minneapolis.
The jury found that Smith falsely represented that he had the authority to hire Jimmy Williams when he called Williams in 2007 to talk about an assistant coach position in Minnesota. Williams claimed Smith offered him the job and that after that conversation, Williams resigned from his $200,000-a-year post at Oklahoma State.
But Minnesota officials backed away from Williams after athletic director Joel Maturi pointed out that Williams had NCAA recruiting violations during his previous tenure as a Minnesota assistant.
Williams' lawsuit, which also named the university as a defendant, was seeking $1.7 million in lost past and future income. Williams said the verdict vindicates him and he hopes to return to coaching.
